VAL PENNY

The start of a new year is always exciting with the opportunity to look forward rather than back. This year my publishers, SpellBound...

Today it is a delight to welcome my friend and fellow author Sharon Cook to the blog to explain her compulsion to write. Sharon's debut...

One of the things I like best about Christmas is that my elder daughter and I often swap books that we have read and enjoyed during the...

It is my great pleasure to welcome my friend and fellow author Martin J Lake to the blog today. Martin's debut novel, Beyond The Stones:...

It was a thrill to produce my first collection of short stories in time for Christmas. It includes stores about DI Hunter Wilson and his...

It was a thrill to produce my first collection of short stories in time for Christmas. If I do say so myself, it makes an ideal and cost...

Most of us use social media to a greater or lesser extent to promote our work and we all know that some posts work better than others....

Authors vary a great deal in how they prepare to write their books. Some plot carefully using rolls of wallpaper to display their story...

I am thrilled to introduce my readers to my friend and fellow author Alex J. Adams whom I met when I attended Books on the Beach run by...

The first novel in my Jane Renwick Thrillers series of novels is The First Cut . The second in the series, A Fighting Chance, will be...

In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative. Themes can be divided into two...

A gripping plot can only carry an interesting story if it is carried by convincing characters. When I an creating a new character I start...

I suppose I should start this article with a disclaimer because, in reality it is mis-titled. Swanwick is a little village in Derbyshire...

Hunter’s Rules will launch at The Harrogate Crime Festival! Join me and SpellBound Books at 1pm Friday 19th July at the Alexandra in...

I have been writing and telling stories all my life. When I was a child, I used to make up stories for my little sister after our Mum put...

Do you remember when you first started writing? I don't mean writing stories, but when you were first taught to hold a pencil and write...

If you ask a reader why they chose to buy a certain book you will get a variety of responses. Perhaps it was written by an author whose...

You still have until the end of February to craft and entry the SpellBound/Penny Prize. This competition closes on 29, February 2024 and...

I hope you were able to download my new book, Hunter's Christmas and Other Stories on your new Christmas Kindle or unwrap it amongst your...

Let me take this chance to tell you about Hunter’s Christmas, the new book of short stories containing tales featuring DI Hunter Wilson,...